I am a citizen of this planet, who believes there is a purpose and mission to our existence. I pursue that mission and try to enjoy every lesson, every day, and every last drop of the pain and joy we drink when we live. I live a mostly regret-free life, with each failure quickly becoming a valuable experience and something to laugh about, and every success something about which to be thankful and celebrative. I do all of this in and around my beloved Berkeley, California.

6/14/2007

Ghassem Abad Miravim Ma...(2)

As we sat there thinking about what to do, he offered that if we waited for a few minutes, he could call his friend in Ghassem Abad Olya to see if he could arrange a “viewing” of chadorshabs for us. We thanked him and waited while he went into his shop to make the phone call. Five minutes later we saw him lock his office door and pull down the shades, walking towards our car! He said O.K. I have talked to my friend and he is waiting for us! Us? I asked him if he was coming with us, and he said yes, that we wouldn’t be able to find the place by ourselves.
This felt presumptuous on his part and made me a little uneasy. I got off the passenger side and went to sit in the back, offering my seat to the Chaboksar guy, Jafar Agha. We drove in silence until we reached a fork in the road, the branch on the right leading to Ghassem Abad Sofla and the road on the left leading to Ghassem Abad Olya. We took the left road for a few minutes when the man told us to stop the car. His friend, Akbar Agha, joined us in the car now, giving us directions to his house. It was a typical village road, bumpy and winding, going through an endless series of farms and citrus orchards. I was slowly developing trepidations at this whole business! What would we do if something went wrong? Who were these people in our car? Where were they taking us? Who was waiting for us at the end of this road? Who would know where to look for us if we disappeared? I slowly pulled my cellular phone out of my purse and when I realized there was no reception signal on it, put it back in my purse, feeling even worse. I looked at my companion’s eyes in the rearview mirror. He looked confused and concerned, too. I wanted to protest, but thought that it would be so rude. Then I was mad at myself, for if anything should happen to us, we would have given up our lives not to be impolite! How typically Iranian of us! We kept on driving until we reached what seemed to be the end of the road. Akbar Agha and his friend jumped out of the car and in their sweet Gilak accent said: “Befarmaid!” We reluctantly got out of the car. I was thinking all kinds of bad thoughts, walking with leaden feet towards a typical Gilan village house on wooden stilts, with clay steps leading to the residential portion of the home upstairs.

Nazy - With regards to your recent blog on Hossien Derakhshan - read the piece below and please amend your position on Derakhshan:

"Hossein Derakhshan is the "LIberal" Iranian Blogger Is Looking to Get Jailed Iranian-American Academics Hanged"

Western liberals pride themselves on promoting individuals in countries like Iran who while part of the ruling system present themselves as human rights activists/dissenters. In many cases these individuals are agitprop working on behalf of the ruling government.

Case in point is Hossien Derakhshan. He has been riding the liberal bandwagon throughout the West for the past 5 years posing as an independent thinker from Iran, one representing the "moderate elements" in the Islamic Republic. He has a Guardian column and has carried out a number of interviews on behalf of the BBC and a range of US Media outlets.

His Guardian Column is Herehttp://commentisfree.guardian.co...ein_derakhshan/

Derakhshan is a fraud. Any Iranian reader of his blog knows this. He comes from a family of Mullahs and is a supporter of the Islamic regime.

On June 11 2007 Derakhshan posted an account on his blog in which he falsely tries to implicate Ali Shakeri one of the 4 Iranian-Americans held by the Islamic Security Services in Iran as a spy/regime opponent.

http://hoder.com/weblog/archives...es/ 016112.shtml

Doing this at a time when all four are on charges that carry the threat of the death penalty is beyond the pale.

Derakhshan has a history of doing abusing real Iranian activists, bloggers and journalist using the platform that liberal Media have afforded him:

I am increasingly disappointed and heart-sick with Hossein Derakhshan and those he can manipulate to support his vicious attacks on Iranians whose lives and efforts have been threatened and compromised, and those who have risked their lives to enlighten others, only to face ridicule and slander from him.

I am sad for the way he has managed to waste his talent and intelligence. My approach to Hossein Derakhshan, however, is not to label him or to tune him out or to silence him. My approach is to keep talking in places and ways where he can read a different kind of review on his work: One that is not congratulatory, nor profanely critical of him--the only two types of response you will see the man get in his blogs. I was pleased when he stepped away from his blog and wrote for Iranian.com, because it gave others a chance to write about his viewpoints. Because he writes so irresponsibly and irratically, in fact it is hard for me to even go to his blog anymore. The day I read the unnecessarily vicious things he wrote about Ali Farahbakhsh, I cried for Derakhshan's ignorance, which causes harm to others. In that way, how is Derakhshan different from a stick-wielding goon who attacks students and women in Tehran? They both harm others because of their ignorance, only Hoder pretends to be educated and liberal, yet hits those he doesn't like or understand with more venom and force than the goon in Tehran.

So, this is what I think. About boycotting his appearances in Northern America, I don't know of any events in this part of the world to which he might have been invited! And if he is, why would I go to an event in which Hossein Derakhshan would appear? What can he teach me, pray tell?! As Hafez said, Anon Jan, my message to Hoder is: "Ay bikhabar bekoosh ta sahabe khabar shavi...."

Your mother is a Gilandokht! That's truly fabulous! I have certainly travelled to Gilan enough times to have the self-appointed title of "Honorary Rashti." Of course my Azari friends also call me an "Honorary Azari," too, because I love their language and music and traditions so much. Since I am not a Gilandokht or a born Rashti, I feel I can say that people of Gilan are the nicest, most polite and refined people. I can write volumes about the things I have seen and experienced in that area (and someday I will), even if just walking in the Rasht Bazaar, or taking a drive to Fooman, stopping to buy a Gamaj in Astaneh Ashrafiyeh (ask your mom, the beautiful Gole Nargess what a Gamaj is!), or to buy hot kolouches in Lahijan. It is all beautiful and interesting and different. As I live away from Iran, one of the few places I miss with a pain in my heart is Rasht. I have more personal sentiments on the subject, too, which I better not share here and now. Be good Serendip.